By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

Chip Emmerich, winemaker and owner of Burnet Ridge, stirs crushed grapes in an open fermentation tub at his North College Hill winery. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

NORTH COLLEGE HILL - Chip Emmerich is nothing if not a creative problem-solver. After all, he has figured out how to make California wines in Cincinnati. And he has kept his business viable for a decade.

"Make the best possible wine, charge the best price, and word of mouth will take over," Emmerich said. "You live by your standards."

Burnet Ridge Winery is housed in a two-story outbuilding in Emmerich's back yard. Its small scale, craftsman-like approach and garden setting are reminiscent of a family run European winery. And that's how Emmerich views his enterprise: as an artesian winemaking operation that aims for a select market within the region.

Emmerich's love affair with viticulture began after his graduation from the University of Kentucky, when he lived for six years near Santa Cruz, Calif. He got to know the owner of a small, high-quality winery and dreamed of developing a similar business. But family concerns brought him back to Cincinnati in 1979.

While earning his living as a safety engineer for the state of Kentucky, Emmerich spent evenings and weekends researching everything from the freezing and transport of wine grapes to the selection of equipment and facilities. When he and his wife purchased a home, it came with a two-story garage reinforced with steel beams: adequate to bear the weight of vats and barrels.

Emmerich arranged to buy grapes from several California growers. The fruit is first crushed, then frozen in large, food-quality plastic vats and shipped via freezer truck from Oakland, Calif., to a freezer locker he rents in Sharonville. It is stored there until needed.

A truck with a hydraulic lift brings the frozen, crushed grapes to his winery door. Each vat - weighing about 1 ton - is wheeled into the ground-level processing room, where its contents thaw and ferment. Yeast is added to assist fermentation, and the liquid mass is stirred twice a day to oxygenate it.

The juice is separated from the skins in a hand press and then is stored briefly in a stainless steel tank. From there it goes into wooden barrels to age. Most of the aging process takes place on the building's lower level, where the nascent wine is neatly labeled and dated.

Emmerich designed this process during his 13-year research and development period. By 1993, he had perfected several varieties of wine and was ready to launch his commercial winery. He called it Burnet Ridge, taking the name from the street where he grew up in Fort Thomas.

Burnet Ridge products found ready markets through area specialty retailers such as Hyde Park Wine & Spirits and Piazza Discepoli Wine & Food Merchants.

"We've been with Chip from the early days," said Piazza Discepoli co-owner Guy Discepoli. "We are a very big supporter of Burnet Ridge. All it takes is one taste and you're convinced."

Before Emmerich's wines were available commercially, Piazza Discepoli included them in several blind tastings at the store.

"They were often the winners," Discepoli recalled. "We'd have to tell people, 'Too bad; this wine isn't available yet.' "

"California wines fluctuate in price from one year to the next," said Mike Hays, owner of Hyde Park Wine & Spirits. "Chip's wines are very consistent - in price and in quality. I think people would be shocked, the way his wines stack up against more expensive wines from California.

"He's just got so much going on in his wines. They are very tasteful and complex."

Burnet Ridge products - notably Purple Trillium, a meritage-style blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot - are also available at area restaurants.

Emmerich has a very clear idea of his customer: a person who appreciates fine wine and is willing to pay about $25 a bottle for it. This customer represents about 11 percent of the alcohol-buying market. Thus far, Burnet has penetrated about half that. To increase his company's sales, especially in the post-Sept. 11 economy, Emmerich has done some more creative problem solving.

"I'm doing more marketing, and I'm cutting production," he said. "I've also taken on a distribution company in Columbus that has a large sales staff, and done the same thing in Louisville. Hopefully, by taking a cut in my price - by working through the distributors - I can get my products out."

Said Discepoli: "We were all a little bit spoiled by the rah-rah '90s. Prices just kept going up. But now there's less discretionary income and more wine on the market."

Emmerich plans to increase demand for his products and gradually rebuild production. You won't see Purple Trillium or its companion varietals on supermarket shelves, nor does he envision sales outside the region. But the winemaker does want to win a larger share of that 11 percent market.

"I feel that everything I put out there that's got my name on it is a superior wine," Emmerich said. "If it does not meet my standards, I'm not going to bottle it."

Wining and dining

Burnet Ridge produces nine wines: Purple Trillium (the biggest seller, it's named for a wild flower), sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, Three Kings Cabernet, syrah (impishly named Que Syrah as a nod to Cincinnati native Doris Day), a red zinfandel, merlot, pinot noir, and a super Tuscan. Prices for a 750-ml bottle range from $15 to $30.

Emmerich says that his wines are sold at about 50 stores in Greater Cincinnati and are on the menu at about 150 local restaurants.

Because he considers himself a wholesaler and because the winery property is also his home, Emmerich does not open his winery to the public. Occasionally he arranges special events through retailers.

Information: 522-4203 or check with your wine retailer.

E-mail jcallison@zoomtown.com